This ontology represents an initial recommendation for extending schema.org to support lodging businesses. It represents work Thematix has successfully used to improve search for several hotel chain franchise operations, but is subject to change based on evolving requirements and feedback from operational deployments. For background, you may wish to read our Open Letter to hoteliers concerning these extensions.

As part of the extension process, we have introduced a number of new properties. Some of these are defined in the above type definitions; others are proposed new properties whose domain is existing types. These new properties are as follows:

hasAmenity. This property's domain is LocalBusiness or Product. Its range is Amenity. "hasAmenity" is a property relating a product or business to a feature considered an amenity. The choice of "product" as a domain of amenity is based on its dictionary definition as "being or having a quality of pleasantness or desirability. It's usual application is as applied to a place or a piece of property".

hasLodgingProvider. This property's domain is Room. Its range is LodgingBusiness. It identifies the specific lodging business, such as a specific local hotel providing the lodging, such as Hyatt Regency Cambridge or Anaheim Hilton.

hasRentalDuration. This property's domain is RentalRate. Its range is Duration. It describes the duration of the rental.

hasRentalRate. This property's domain is RentalOffer. Its range is RentalRate. It links the rental offer to a rate specific to the date and duration of interest.

hasRentalRateFeature. This property's domain is RentalRate. It is a string. It serves to describe a feature, amenity or service associated specifically with the combination of the offer and rate. For example, to limit the availability of the rate to certain guests (retirees, service personnel, etc.)

hasRoomType. This property's domain is Room. Its range is RoomType. It describes the type of room in a lodging business or other building, such as Twin, King, Double, Suite, Meeting Room, Ballroom, Fitness Center, Health Club, Spa, etc.

offersService. This property's domain is Organization. Its range is Service. "offersService" is a property relating an organization to a service offered.

We are also making available an OWL file that represents the above extensions in the web ontology language. Note that certain accommodations had to be made to accurately reflect the intent of Schema.org; for example, string and decimal are explicitly declared as types in order to keep the ontology consistent. Also, the file imports http://schema.rdfs.org/all and the SKOS core at http://w3c.org/2004/02/skos/core.

Various elements of these extensions have been published at both large and small hoteliers' sites, including for example Wyndham-Days Inn Hotels, Hilton Hotels (see here for the Anaheim Hilton and here here for Virginia Beach) and the Miami Regency Hotel.